Lamprotes c-aureum (Knoch, 1781)

Host plants:The larvae feed on Thalictrum aquilegifolium, more rarely also other Thalictrum species or Aquilegia.

Habitat:Lamprotes c-aureum is an inhabitant of the riverine forests, swamp forests, gallery woods along streams, wetlands on forest edges and wet depressions in forests.

Life cycle:The young caterpillar overwinters. I observed fully-grown caterpillars in May. They usually sit on the underside of leaves or hanging down on the petiol, mostly in typical U-position. The moth flies from mid-June to early August.

Endangerment: strongly endangered

Endangerment factors:The mostly small-scale habitats are quickly destroyed by logging, afforestation withj spruce or maple, deposition and eutrophication. Lamprotes c-aureum is therefore becoming increasingly rare. The sites must be mapped and preserved in their original state.

Remarks: The very local species occurs in Germany for example in the northern foreland of the Alps, on the Danube or the Upper Rhine. The overall distribution ranges from central and Eastern Europe to western Siberia.